50 years since Okehampton to Bere Alston closure

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From the Plymouth Herald

It is 50 years ago next month that the axe came down on the Southern Railway route from Plymouth to Exeter via Tavistock and Okehampton.

The Labour Government, elected in 1964, promised to halt the railway closures instigated by the infamous Dr Beeching, but reneged on the promise. It was Barbra Castle, the Minister of Transport, who gave the authority to close the line.

Now, half a century on, Devon railway enthusiast, author and retired railwayman Bernard Mills reflects on the final chapter of the line which was severed between Bere Alston and Okehampton.

The last train over this section ran on Sunday, May 5, 1968 ending all through services – and killing a line that had served the area since opening in June, 1890.

[SandTEngineer]

I liked the post by Grahame, not because I liked the closure of the line.  It's been nearly 10 years now since the proposal to reinstate the Bere Alston to Tavistock section, and it seems to have gone extremely quite again on that front.

[LiskeardRich]

I drove past an old station near Lydford on Tuesday. People living in station house, and the old foot bridge was in place in the garden.
The now removed (very)  low bridge at Tavistock on the gunnislake road I can’t imagine being allowed to be replaced.

[SandTEngineer]

I drove past an old station near Lydford on Tuesday. People living in station house, and the old foot bridge was in place in the garden.
The now removed (very)  low bridge at Tavistock on the gunnislake road I can’t imagine being allowed to be replaced.

The new Tavistock station was(is) planned to be on the South side of the Gunnislake road, so the bridge is not required (at that stage).

[RichardB]

I drove past an old station near Lydford on Tuesday. People living in station house, and the old foot bridge was in place in the garden.
The now removed (very)  low bridge at Tavistock on the gunnislake road I can’t imagine being allowed to be replaced.

That'll be Bridestowe station.  Some solution (e.g. lowering or diverting Callington Road) would need be done re that missing bridge. 

[Umberleigh]

After the line had been officially closed and the signalling removed, a major storm closed the Dawlish line, so in desperation BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) ran a Warship with (I imagine) perishable freight over the now ‘disused’ route.

There was heavy snow and the train became stranded near Lydford. When the train crew trudged to a nearby residence to ask to use the telephone, the householder, knowing the line had closed, disbelieved the story and reported them as escaped prisoners from Dartmoor jail!

[trainbuff]

After the line had been officially closed and the signalling removed, a major storm closed the Dawlish line, so in desperation BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) ran a Warship with (I imagine) perishable freight over the now ‘disused’ route.

There was heavy snow and the train became stranded near Lydford. When the train crew trudged to a nearby residence to ask to use the telephone, the householder, knowing the line had closed, disbelieved the story and reported them as escaped prisoners from Dartmoor jail!

I quote to the excellent book on the Okehampton line by John Nicholas and George Reeve the above operation happened twice.

"On 19th February Warship Class No865 Zealous equipped with heavy snow ploughs was sent from Plymouth along the Okehampton line to Exeter encountering many heavy snow drifts on the way. The operation was repeated on the 20th, and then a freight train, hauled by Warship No827 Kelly,set out from Plymouth but the locomotive failed near Brentor. The crew's second man set out to seek assistance but the lady of the house needed considerable persuasion. 'The railway has been closed for months. Sure you haven't escaped from Dartmoor?' Eventually Western Class No 1018 Western Buccaneer was sent out to assist and the freight finally reached Exeter"

The book does not state whether the Dawlish Sea Wall was down or not, merely describing 'Blizzard conditions' on the Western Main Line. I read somewhere that the line was blocked at Ivybridge due to snow drifts but should anybody here know for certain it would be appreciated

[AMLAG]

I clearly remember seeing D827 Kelly (with an Exeter Driver) and a fully fitted freight of 35 wagons, many sheeted Hyfit opens loaded with clay for the Stoke Potteries, several Vanfits and a few Conflats with BD containers (possibly loaded with MOD supplies or Baby rusks  from Farleys Plymouth factory) passing through Tavistock at about 1630, preceded by about half an hour or so, by a Warship with a snow plough.

It is my understanding that in addition to snow blocking the line between Hemerdon and Ivybridge, that there was damage to the Dawlish sea wall and the Exe estuary wall in the Starcross area.

Had the Exeter to Plymouth via Okehampton former Southern main line not been so remote from Central Government and the ensuing (from 1969) numerous costly closures of the fragile, steeply graded and twisting South Devon route (with dreaded Bustitution^▸ (the practice of replacing trains with buses)) been foreseen, then I have little doubt that a rationalised Okehampton route would have been retained. 
With a bit of 'Quantitive Easing' or Chinese funding it could be re-instated !

[woody]

I liked the post by Grahame, not because I liked the closure of the line.  It's been nearly 10 years now since the proposal to reinstate the Bere Alston to Tavistock section, and it seems to have gone extremely quite again on that front.

The big problem is that costs have risen from the original estimate of £30 million to some  £60 million. According to 'Rail' magazine several months back completion of the project to reinstate the line from Here Alston  to Tavistock has now been pushed well back into the 2020s.

[34104]

I liked the post by Grahame, not because I liked the closure of the line.  It's been nearly 10 years now since the proposal to reinstate the Bere Alston to Tavistock section, and it seems to have gone extremely quite again on that front.

The big problem is that costs have risen from the original estimate of £30 million to some  £60 million. According to 'Rail' magazine several months back completion of the project to reinstate the line from Here Alston  to Tavistock has now been pushed well back into the 2020s.

The original original estimate[when Kilbride were still involved] was £18m.Now I don't regard myself as a completely naïve sort of person when it comes to money and greed but can anyone give a rational explanation as to how building 6 miles of railway line when the basic infrastructure is still there can mushroom by £42m in ten years FFS^▸ (for goodness' sake (a more polite definition)) [excuse my French]? Jeez, the politics, creative accounting and inertia in this country are staggering-enough to make you feel like voting Corbyn sometimes.

Anyway, for anybody interested there is a walk from Bedford square in Tavistock starting at 1400 hrs on Saturday May 5th to Tavistock North station with a rare chance to look inside and continuing across the viaduct [where someone sadly took their own life last week]-apparently some sort of model train is running across it. There is also to be a talk given by Bernard Mills and Stephen Fryer at 1930 hrs in the United Reform Church in Russell Street,Tavistock on the history and hopefully the future of the line.

[woody]

Unfortunately John Majors disastrous rail privatisation hasn't done the us any favours.
Network Rail or the engineering companies cost so much. Network Rail quotes for schemes are sometimes a factor of ten more than might be expected and even the most minor routine job seems to be far higher than comparable work in other industries.
The Public Accounts Committee have recently attacked the Government’s "completely inadequate" management of two major rail franchises as exposing a “broken model" with “serious and deep-rooted problems”
While First Group (GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)) are in deep financial do do, as the following link shows.
http://www.passengertransport.co.uk/2018/04/firstgroup-break-up-likely-after-apollo-bid/
It no wonder that this project has ground to a halt on cost grounds.

[TaplowGreen]

Unfortunately John Majors disastrous rail privatisation hasn't done the us any favours.
Network Rail or the engineering companies cost so much. Network Rail quotes for schemes are sometimes a factor of ten more than might be expected and even the most minor routine job seems to be far higher than comparable work in other industries.

Er..............isn't Network Rail publicly owned? 

[Chris from Nailsea]

I drove past an old station near Lydford on Tuesday. People living in station house...

That'll be Bridestowe station.

Indeed it will.

Many (possibly some 25 or more now) years ago, I visited an aunt who lives in Lydford for a weekend break, and she invited me to enjoy a barbecue with the family then living in the old Bridestow Station building.  It was a fascinating afternoon, and I remember that we played Pétanque (boules to you!) on the old trackbed between the platforms. 

[woody]

Unfortunately John Majors disastrous rail privatisation hasn't done the us any favours.
Network Rail or the engineering companies cost so much. Network Rail quotes for schemes are sometimes a factor of ten more than might be expected and even the most minor routine job seems to be far higher than comparable work in other industries.

Er..............isn't Network Rail publicly owned? 

I would remind you that the fully privatised Railtrack went bust very shortly after the rail privatisation. As a result the taxpayer (Network Rail) had no choice but to take on all of Railtracks huge debt baggage and commitments. Worse still, instead of learning from their mistake by taking track maintenance back "in house" as elsewhere in the world where economies of scale meant costs were much lower under BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)), the dogmatic conservative government simply has simply repeated Railtracks mistakes with its use of "rip off" contractors and sub contractors, Ie the massively over cost West Coast main line upgrade and the current GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) main line electrification fiasco, both £ billions of taxpayers money over cost to the detriment of the wider railway including of course the now long in tooth proposed Tavistock reopening. Incidentally Network Rail was only reclassified as a public sector body from 1 September 2014 meaning  its huge public sector debt was up to then not counted as public spending which of course it is, effectively a government accountancy scam. This has of course increased public scrutiny on this failed rail privatisation generally as money gets ever tighter.

[TaplowGreen]

Unfortunately John Majors disastrous rail privatisation hasn't done the us any favours.
Network Rail or the engineering companies cost so much. Network Rail quotes for schemes are sometimes a factor of ten more than might be expected and even the most minor routine job seems to be far higher than comparable work in other industries.

Er..............isn't Network Rail publicly owned? 

I would remind you that the fully privatised Railtrack went bust very shortly after the rail privatisation. As a result the taxpayer (Network Rail) had no choice but to take on all of Railtracks huge debt baggage and commitments. Worse still, instead of learning from their mistake by taking track maintenance back "in house" as elsewhere in the world where economies of scale meant costs were much lower under BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)), the dogmatic conservative government simply has simply repeated Railtracks mistakes with its use of "rip off" contractors and sub contractors, Ie the massively over cost West Coast main line upgrade and the current GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) main line electrification fiasco, both £ billions of taxpayers money over cost to the detriment of the wider railway including of course the now long in tooth proposed Tavistock reopening. Incidentally Network Rail was only reclassified as a public sector body from 1 September 2014 meaning  its huge public sector debt was up to then not counted as public spending which of course it is, effectively a government accountancy scam. This has of course increased public scrutiny on this failed rail privatisation generally as money gets ever tighter.

Wow, quite a speech!  ...............since you seem determined to define this as a political, and specifically Conservative matter, as Network Rail took over in 2002, and in the interest of balance, which "dogmatic Government" was responsible for it between then and the election of the next Conservative Government?